Health promotion in oncology: A cancer wellness doctrine

The notions of personal control over illness and of participation in healing have caught fire among Americans with cancer. Mental health practitioners whose clinical practice includes cancer patients frequently encounter requests for assistance in promoting wellness, usually for teaching relaxation and visualization techniques. This article describes an approach to promoting wellness in people with cancer. This approach is broader than a skill training model. It combines popular stress-management techniques with a set of eight beliefs that are useful for cognitive restructuring. These beliefs, modified with qualifiers introducing appropriate realism, constitute a “wellness doctrine” that can serve as a basis for intervention with a variety of common clinical problems. Case examples are presented, and four subtypes of patients who present for wellness promotion are described.